Alagaddūpama Sutta

Pali Canon
Vinaya Pitaka
Suttavibhanga Khandhaka Parivara
Sutta Pitaka (Nikayas)
Digha Nikaya Majjhima Nikaya Samyutta Nikaya Anguttara Nikaya Khuddaka Nikaya Jataka
Abhidhamma Pitaka
Dhammasangani Vibhanga Dhatukatha and Puggalapannatti Kathavatthu Yamaka Patthana
Related articles
Early Buddhist Texts Agamas

Alagaddūpama Sutta (MN 22; "Simile of the Snake Sutta" or "Water-Snake Simile Suttra") is a text from the Majjhima Nikaya of the Pali Canon. A Sarvastivada recension is included in the Madhyama Agama of the Chinese Canon.

Thanisarro Bhikkhu states:

This is a discourse about clinging to views (diṭṭhi). Its central message is conveyed in two similes, among the most famous in the Canon: the simile of the water-snake and the simile of the raft. Taken together, these similes focus on the skill needed to grasp right view properly as a means of leading to the cessation of suffering, rather than an object of clinging, and then letting it go when it has done its job.

Translations

• Simile of the Snake Sutta, translated by Bhikkhu Sujato
• Water-Snake Simile Sutta, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University